A Liberian, a professor teaching at the University of Delaware, is responsible for pouring gasoline on the metaphorical fire of rabid rumors that Americans caused the outbreaks of Ebola, past and present.

Health care workers, including western health care workers, are being killed by terrified residents of countries that distrust their own government due to extreme corruption, and which distrust us as well.

Contributing to that fear and ignorance is Professor Cyril Broderick, Sr. Broderick is a tenured professor, of plant physiology and pathology in the Agricultural College. He has no expertise in medicine, or epidemiology.

from the original WaPo article:

As those military doctors and officials begin what will be a difficult task, among the challenges they face are rumors that spread fear — fear of Ebola, fear of quarantine measures and fear of doctors. Already, several medical workers have been murdered in Guinea — throats slit, bodies dumped in a latrine. Then six Red Cross volunteers were attacked earlier this week while they tried to collect the body of an Ebola victim.
And now, in what may plant further seeds of mistrust and suspicion, a major Liberian newspaper, the Daily Observer, has published an article by a Liberian-born faculty member of a U.S. university implying the epidemic is the result of bioterrorism experiments conducted by the United States Department of Defense, among others.

Broderick might as well have painted a target on the backs of those who are in Africa to help, both foreign and local.

His sources were a bunch of right wing nut conspiracy theory sites, including the Liberty Beacon propaganda outlet, and Global Research in Canada. These sites are same ones that insist climate change is not real, much less anthropogenic, and where they try to promote that the President was really born in Kenya and is a secret Muslim terrorist gay drug using murderer. The sites are of the ilk of Alex Jones Infowars, and include a so-called reporter linked variously to Jones and other crackpots. In this case, primarily a man by the name of Jon Rappoport, apparently who describes the Ebola crimes:

The research program, occurring in Sierra Leone, the Republic of Guinea, and Liberia—said to be the epicenter of the 2014 Ebola outbreak—has the announced purpose, among others, of detecting the future use of fever-viruses as bioweapons.
Is this purely defensive research? Or as we have seen in the past, is this research being covertly used to develop offensive bioweapons?
For the last several years, researchers from Tulane University have been active in the African areas where Ebola is said to have broken out in 2014.
These researchers are working with other institutions, one of which is USAMRIID, the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, a well-known center for biowar research, located at Fort Detrick, Maryland.
In Sierra Leone, the Tulane group has been researching new diagnostic tests for hemorrhagic fevers.The third document is found on the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation Facebook page (no login required), dated July 23 at 1:35pm. It lays out emergency measures to be taken. We find this curious statement: “Tulane University to stop Ebola testing during the current Ebola outbreak.”
Why? Are the tests issuing false results? Are they frightening the population? Have Tulane researchers done something to endanger public health?
In addition to an investigation of these matters, another probe needs to be launched into all vaccine campaigns in the Ebola Zone. For example. HPV vaccine programs have been ongoing. Vials of vaccine must be tested to discover ALL ingredients. Additionally, it’s well known that giving vaccines to people whose immune systems are already severely compromised is dangerous and deadly.

Delaware State University said it won’t interfere with the free speech rights of a tenured professor who wrote a wildly speculative and conspiratorial article in a Liberian newspaper in which he claimed that the U.S. government manufactured the Ebola virus and spread it in West Africa under the guise of vaccine testing.
“The university is not going to abridge his First Amendment rights to give his opinion about the issues of the day,” said Carlos Holmes, a spokesman for the school, where Cyril Broderick is an associate professor in the agriculture and natural resources department.
The article in question — headlined “Ebola, AIDS Manufactured By Western Pharmaceuticals, US DoD?” — appeared in a major Liberian newspaper, the Daily Observer, earlier this month.
“Reports narrate stories of the US Department of Defense (DoD) funding Ebola trials on humans, trials which started just weeks before the Ebola outbreak in Guinea and Sierra Leone,” Broderick wrote.

Officials at the university first became aware of Broderick’s article on Friday, after The Post reported on its contents, Holmes said.
He declined to comment on whether the university had spoken to Broderick, citing a policy of keeping “personnel issues” private.
“A lot of people can have tenure at a university and then they’ll go out and commit mass murder, okay,” Holmes said. “We didn’t know that they would do that before they were granted tenure.
“You’re talking about something that is happening first of all after he has been granted tenure.”

It sounds like Broderick won't face any negative pressure from the college but on the other hand, this kind of poor grade bad science cannot recommend him to the institution where his area of expertise is expected and required to be more scientific than this rubbish.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Eric
Frein is the subject of a 1,000 man search, in response to the killing
of one law enforcement officer and the attempted killing of another.

Frein has been evading the searchers, including resorting to wearing
adult diapers in order to remain vigilant. His dirty didies have been
found in the woods by the searchers along with his AK47.

As we
are approaching a second week of this manhunt, social media suggests
that either Eric Matthew Frein is part of the Sovereign Citizen
movement, or at least is receiving social media support and
encouragement from it. His beliefs seem consistent with those domestic
terrorists and extremists, including their gun obsession and their
desire to shoot their fellow citizens.

Pure speculation on my
part, but given that bunkers filled with weapons and ammunition are
characteristic of the right wing nuttery, and given the ability of Frein
to avoid capture during this period while people look for him around
the clock, he probably has some sort of longer-term hiding place that he
is using, something on the order of an underground bunker.

As Frein continues to be spotted, and as the searchers continue to close
in, the order has been given to shoot Frein on sight if he does not
surrender, which is consistent with reasonable force by law enforcement
under the circumstances.

One more example of why we should have
stricter gun control; people like Eric Frein should never have weapons,
much less military fire power.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

I am deeply proud that Minnesota has a great secretary of state in Mark Ritchie, and that an equally pro-voter replacement for him is in the wings to succeed him in Democratic candidate Steve Simon. Ritchie and Simon stand in stark contrast to the worst Secretary of State in the nation, Kansas SOS Kris Kobach.

Minnesota has had the highest voter turnout, and elections that are considered a model for fair, honest and efficient.

If you are one of those voters who is not yet registered -- do it TODAY, National Voter Registration Day. You can do it Online, and if you are reading this, you are already on line, so no excuses!

Thousands of Minnesotans have used the new
online voter registration program, according to a release from the
secretary of state.Of the 8,092 people
who took part, 2,938 were new registrants. The rest were voters
updating their information. Waiting to be approved are 598 additional
applications.
That’s good news for state Rep. Steve Simon, DFL-Hopkins, who authored the House bill that kept the system in place.
“What I would love to know — because this data
didn’t break it down — is age ranges,” said Simon, who is running for
secretary of state this fall. “One real possibility for online voter
registration is that young people in particular will take to it.”
But Simon’s bill wasn’t the first introduction of
online voter registration to the state. The figures released on
Thursday represent the total since September 2013. That’s when the
program started up a rocky path to state law.
It was originally implemented by current
Secretary of State Mark Ritchie without a legislative vote. A lawsuit
was later brought against Ritchie with claims that he overstepped his
authority by creating the system.
In April, a Ramsey County District Judge John
Guthmann ruled that the online registration system would have to be shut
down. A day later the state Legislature passed the bill to keep it
going, and the service continued without skipping a beat.
The bill had bipartisan support, and received “yes” votes from the legislators who represent Steele County in both chambers.
Another new election law this year allows for
“no-excuse absentee ballots,” which Simon also authored. Before,
requests had to be coupled with an explanation for missing Election Day.

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read.
Held during the last week of September, it highlights the value of free
and open access to information. Banned Books Week brings together the
entire book community –- librarians, booksellers, publishers,
journalists, teachers, and readers of all types –- in shared support of
the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider
unorthodox or unpopular.
Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge
in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and
libraries. More than 11,300 books have been challenged since 1982
according to the American Library Association. There were 307 challenges
reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom in 2013, and many more
go unreported. The 10 most challenged titles of 2013 were:

By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access
to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of
censorship. Check out the frequently challenged books section
to explore the issues and controversies around book challenges and book
banning. The books featured during Banned Books Week have all been
targeted with removal or restrictions in libraries and schools. While
books have been and continue to be banned, part of the Banned Books Week
celebration is the fact that, in a majority of cases, the books have
remained available. This happens only thanks to the efforts of
librarians, teachers, students, and community members who stand up and
speak out for the freedom to read.

The cited statute provides:Any person who has been nominated by any means for any national, state, county or township office who declares that they [sic] are incapable of fulfilling the duties of office if elected may cause such person’s name to be withdrawn from nomination by a request in writing, signed by the person and acknowledged before an officer qualified to take acknowledgments of deeds.
Taylor having made no acknowledgment of incapability to serve, Kobach ruled that Taylor would stay on the ballot as the Democratic nominee this November. This point of the whole Democratic charade being to get Taylor off the ballot and get Democrats behind Orman, Taylor followed up with an appeal to the Kansas Supreme Court. Having made his withdrawal “pursuant to” the statute, Taylor argued that he incorporated the statutory requirement of incapability by reference. This week the Kansas Supreme Court unanimously agreed:We conclude the plain meaning of “pursuant to K.S.A. 25-306b(b)” contained in Taylor’s letter effectively declares he is incapable of fulfilling the duties of office if elected. Simply put, the phrase operates as an incorporation by reference of this particular requirement.

Powerline blog, a conservative site, doesn’t like the court decision, never mind that it treats all candidates alike rather than different, rather than giving preference to one political party over another.

What has been largely absent from the media coverage is that Kobach quietly skulked away with his tail between his legs on Saturday, and complied with federal and state law:
From Politico:

TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach has directed county election officials to start mailing ballots to voters overseas Saturday without having a Democratic nominee listed for the U.S. Senate.
The Democrat dropped out of the race against three-term Republican Sen. Pat Roberts, pushed out by some party leaders who wanted to improve the chances that independent candidate Greg Orman would defeat Roberts.
Kobach spokeswoman Samantha Poetter confirmed Friday that the secretary of state had decided against delaying the mailing of ballots to military personnel and other U.S. citizens overseas. He had said Thursday that the deadline for starting the mailings would be pushed back to Sept. 27.

Why was that an attempt to cheat by Kobach and the Republicans?

That would be because the incumbent Republican is losing, but is losing by LESS if the vote is split three ways rather than two.

In response to losing the court battle to try to treat the Democratic candidate differently, and contrary to the precedent of what was acceptable withdrawal, Kobach then tried to insist he would mess with the federally mandated requirements for mailing out ballots to those who serve in the military. Kobach came up with all kinds of crack pot ideas. He ORDERED the Democratic party to come up with a replacement candidate. The Secretary of State has no legal authority to do that. Kobach then claimed he would delay mailing ballots, mandated by federal law, and that he would include a disclaimer, followed by a subsequent ballot. Kobach also claimed he had a waiver from the DOJ to exempt him from following the law — but the DOJ was clear he did not have any such waiver, and had never requested one either. Then Kobach claimed he was going to move back the election in Kansas to the Tuesday FOLLOWING the Tuesday in November on which the REST of the country holds our elections. Yeah……..Kobach doesn’t have the authority as SOS to do that either.

Kobach, also the author of the infamous ‘papers please’ Arizona legislation, likes to make up sh*t, and to try at least, to give himself powers that the government does not legitimately have — all to try to cheat in holding the Kansas state and federal election this November so as to favor Republicans. The fact that incumbent Senator Roberts is doing so poorly is part of the shift among pundits and political predictors and pollsters that give a slight to hefty majority chance for the Democrats to hold the Senate in this off-year / not-presidential election.

Had ANY Democrat ANYWHERE EVER made statements, claims, or attempts like Kris Kobach, SOS of Kansas, Conservative heads would be exploding, and the screams from Conservatives, especially from the tea bagger (Kobash is a tea partier) and smaller-government crowd would be so loud, it could be heard on the moon.

So far as I can find — NOT A PEEP out of Conservatives about how TERRIBLE, how blatantly ILLEGAL, the efforts have been by Kris Kobach. Apparently the ‘values party’ crowd has very hypocritical partisan-selective values. In other words, they don’t give a DAMN about free and fair elections, they don’t give a damn about cheating. They only care about winning, no matter how dirty, no matter how much they abuse government authority to do so, no matter how unethical.

…the latest poll data released September 8, shows that if the election were held today, Schodorf has a 3 percent advantage: 46 percent to Kobach’s 43 percent. Eleven percent of likely voters polled remain undecided. The margin of error is +/- 4.2 percent.
Secretary of State Kris Kobach holds 70 percent of the Republican vote, while Jean Schodorf holds 86 percent of the Democratic vote.

Rachel Maddow summed up the Kobach conduct last week, accurately and consientiously:

Politico makes no reference to any disclaimer, any mailing of additional ballots, etc. Further just under 100 inaccurate ballots were mailed out on last Thursday, however, WITH the name of the Democratic candidate printed on them. Those incorrect ballots WILL need to be replaced.

The capacity for Kris Kobach, Kansas Secretary of State to screw up an election, to act in a manner which is apparently illegal and unethical, and which is likely to run afoul of the DOJ, is nothing less than spectacular.

The daft woman is as far from qualified, and as far from possessing a judicial temperament, as one could get from incumbent Justice David Lillehaug.

MacDonald's apparent sole claim to the MN GOP endorsement -- and they knew about her legal problems when they endorsed her -- is that she likes to wave a Bible and say silly things. I suppose that is still a step up from the I am not a witch conservative diz in Delaware, Christine O'Donnell, but not by much.

Then we have the latest west coast version of the conservative lady wack-a-doodle, Monica Wehby, who is a surgeon who apparently performs unnecessary surgeries, some of which harm children. She is currently involved in a court case because of this.

But that is not her only problem; as noted from the WaPo this morning:

Monica Wehby: The pediatric neurosurgeon was already an underdog against Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and this didn't help. On Tuesday, Buzzfeed reported that Wehby's health plan appeared to have been plagiarized from a survey conducted for a conservative group. A Wehby spokesman denied the claim. Then came another Buzzfeed story on Wednesday revealing that Wehby's economic plan appeared to be plagiarized, too. Wehby's campaign admitted the material was problematic and removed it from her campaign Web site. The campaign pointed fingers at a former staffer who has denied being the culprit. In short, things have gotten ugly. Wehby has already had to deal with another major distraction: A Politico report in May about how she was accused of stalking her ex-boyfriend. Overcoming two big-time distractions in any campaign is tough -- let alone for a Republican running in deep blue Oregon.

The conservative group in question appears to be Karl Rove's crossroads folks. Wehby tried to pass the blame on to her employees (and had a spokesperson explain she was too busy performing brain surgery on sick kids to pay attention to such stuff, much less respond to questions about it). THAT does not appear to be true either. Wehby tried to blame a former staffer, Charles Pearce.

UPDATE: An email obtained by The Oregonian containing the original Word document draft of the economic policy appears to show that it was written by an employee at Meridian Pacific, a consulting firm working for Wehby, and not by Pearce. John Peschong, a partner in the firm, told the Salem Statesman-Journal that he couldn't authenticate that the document was produced by his firm and said he couldn't reach the person named in the Word document, who no longer works for Meridian.

So you know how liberals keep insisting that conservatives of all stripes, but especially the tea partiers have utterly failed to come up with ANY new ideas? It's true. And it's not like Wehby is the only right wing plagiarist (who is also involved in the medical profession) -- there's Rand Paul, and also Greg Brannon, an obstetrician in North Carolina (who plagiarized plagiarist Rand Paul).

And Wehby did not only stalk her boyfriend, including breaking and entering his home, she also has had police called by her ex-husband for stalking him. But hey -- the NRA endorsed her, because the NRA doesn't seem to have a problem with guns and stalkers who break and enter, or people with integrity problems.

If you wonder why I prefer the UK to the US. Yesterday's referendum was carried out in a peaceful manner, despite strong sentiments on both sides.

On the other hand, it seems that in the US some people feel that they have a right to prevent people from voting. I believe there are federal laws which prevent this sort of activity, but still:

In Wisconsin, it is a Class I felony to use or threaten to use force, violence, or restraint to compel a person to vote or not vote in an election. It is also a felony to impede or prevent someone’s ability to vote in an election, to bribe voters, or to coerce someone to vote for a particular candidate or ballot measure.

Voter intimidation is also illegal under federal law. The Voting Rights Act and the National Voter Registration Act make it a crime for election officials to attempt to “intimidate, threaten, or coerce” anyone from voting or attempting to vote, or registering to vote.

Call the police immediately if you see these people.

In fact, contact and file a report with the DoJ's Civil Rights Division:

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Just to remind you, there is actually a world out there: Scotland will soon be voting on independence in another two days.

This is something I have a personal stake in and my opinion is "no".

This is an opinion based upon history and the politics of what will happen if Scotland does go independent.

While some people may look at this with a romantic eye, the reality is much harsher than people outside the UK realise. Well, maybe the CIA does realise it, which makes me think they will have a hand in this.

First off, an independent Scotland will be very liberal. Liberal to the point of becoming a nuclear free zone and kicking the Trident fleet out of the Clyde, which will not please the US. Additionally, it will drain NATO of Scotland's military. That will also bugger England's nuclear capability as they look for another place for the Trident fleet or an alternative to Trident.

If I were a Euroskeptic, this would be a godsend, as a newly independent Scotland will have to apply for membership in the European Union.

If I were conservative, this is a godsend for British Tories as Scotland is a very lefty state. The Scottish Green Party is one of the sponsors of this referendum.

John Oliver gives a good summary of what is at stake, although I have not watched all of this video.

Americans tend to look at independence with a very romantic eye and fail to see the actual political implications (well, except for those in the "elite" who see the issues quite plainly).

I'm surprised that someone I know who is a Scottish Historian, Neil Oliver, hasn't weighed in on this, but he did retweet this post:

Yeah, John Oliver did point out that the pro-Union side sounds like an impending divorce. In some ways, this is like a rocky marriage, with the alternative being worse than staying together. Neither is totally happy with the other.

Or something which people end up regretting if it does pass and the economic ramifications are as bad as predicted.

Scotland and England do have a degree of separation in that there is a slightly different currency (although lord knows what will happen if the Scottish pound breaks from the British Pound). Scotland also has a different legal system from England and Wales.

Personally, I look at it from my perspective as a Jacobite. The King across the water is no longer a viable option, despite the romantic images of the rebellions. Those images are romanticising something which was seriously awful with people being hanged, drawn,and quartered; heads placed on the York City wall, and the driving of many people to a horrible land: North America.

The reality was that Union was born of necessity as Scotland plunged into a serious depression.

Like it or not, the UK is much better together. The day after separation will be far more of a nightmare than the marriage.

Monday, September 15, 2014

Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.Exodus 20: 3-6.

And if you really want a laugh:

Yes, I do believe in the "golden rule (or rule of reciprocity), but the NRA is about the most diametrically opposed organisation to the Golden Rule I can think of. They are the last organisation to try and use the "golden rule" for any purpose.

If you would rather be judges by 12 than carried by six, then you should allow criminals to have their legal right to a trial--not allow for summary execution and vigilante justice.

BTW, the picture above is of a piece by an artist named Al Farrow. I'm not sure what his take is on this. The work is called "Fingernail of the Trigger Finger of Santo Guerro". The picture ended up on a gun loon page as a mash up between Christianity and guns. Maybe that's Mr. Fallow's point.

It seems that someone glommed onto this section of the US Code, 18 U.S. Code §241, with the idea that it would apply to "the Second Amendment Right".

As if events post-Heller-McDonald haven't shown it was a bad idea to skirt the constitution and reinterpret the Second Amendment so that something which is the subject and deemed "necessary to the security of the free state" is no longer considered to be of any significance.

But, anyway, 10 minutes in a law library with enough legal research skills would show using this provision, 18 U.S. Code §241, to be silly. After all, it's in a section titled:

18 U.S. Code Chapter 13 - CIVIL RIGHTS

The federal rights which 18 U.S.C. § 241 aims to protect are the following:

the right of an arrested person to a trial to resolve the question of his/her guilt;

the right of a person charged with a crime to a trial to resolve the question of his/her guilt;

the right to testify at a trial;

the right to be free from unlawful violence committed under color of state law;

the right to travel freely within any of the states of the United States;

the right to be provided service in a restaurant or other places of public accommodation without considering the person’s race;
the right to worship as a person pleases;

the right to vote; and

the right to inform federal officials when there has been a violation of federal law.

Note that owning a gun is not part of this list.

Some people found this on findlaw, but didn't bother with looking at the notes, authorities, or caselaw. With the caselaw putting this seriously in the camp of the black civil rights movement: United States v. Johnson, 390 U.S. 563 (1968).

Anyway, you are better off going with Cornell's Legal Information Institute's version of this than Findlaw's text since LII gives more useful information for someone who has no idea of what they are doing. It cites to this under the authorities:

Turning up the heat on right wing lies

Opinions

“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'”

― Isaac Asimov, "A Cult of Ignorance," Newsweek (Jan. 1980)

We stand with PP

past wisdom

"I don't want to see religious bigotry in any form. It would disturb me if there was a wedding between the religious fundamentalists and the political right. The hard right has no interest in religion except to manipulate it."Billy Graham - Parade (1 February 1981)

An astute observation from Bertrand Russell

"Man is a credulous animal, and must believe something; in the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones."

Penigma is pro-feminism, pro-thought

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